DeVos invested in Performant Financial Corp just prior to becoming the Sec. of Education.

A company that once had financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was one of two firms selected Thursday by the Education Department to help the agency collect overdue student loans. The deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The decision to award contracts to Windham Professionals and Performant Financial Corp. — a company DeVos invested in before becoming secretary — arrives a month after a federal judge ordered the department to complete its selection of a loan collector to put an end to a messy court battle.

How is DeVos connected to Performant?

Performant is linked to LMF WF Portfolio, a limited liability company that once counted DeVos as an investor. LMF was one of several firms involved in providing Performant with a $147 million loan in 2012, according to regulatory filings.

Sec. DeVos has denied any knowledge of how contract was awarded.

Education Department spokesman Nathan Bailey said Thursday that DeVos had “no knowledge, let alone involvement,” in the new debt-collection contract.